Harryhausen…the Man, the Myth the Restaurant!

In the spirit of Ray Harryhausen’s 90th birthday, we would like to pay tribute to two of the great monster men of film, Ray Harryhausen and Tim Burton.

One of Burton’s most recognizable films, The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a stop animation classic he first dreamed up during his tenure as a Disney artist. Garnering an Academy Award nomination for special effects in 1994 (and getting eaten whole by Jurassic Park), the more recent digital 3-D release expands on the wow factor of the original in spades. Now if they could only make the music 3-D….

Burton sites Ray Harryhausen as one of his greatest influences, as do Spielberg and Lucas. Harryhausen was a monster man through and through, creating such classics as Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts.

The skeleton fight scene from Harryhausen’s 1963 stop animation goldmine Jason and the Argonauts is mind blowing for the technology available at the time (Think Matrix-1963). Trust me….click on the link and watch the scene. Keep reminding yourself this was done in 1963!

Those of you truly well versed in Monstrology will note the nod to Harryhausen in Monsters Inc. If you don’t know what I mean, just ask Googly Bear. Happy Halloween too you and yours. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some pics of Disney Geeks in Training, Lil’ Mickey Mouse and Ariel.